The platform of power.

In mountain biking, people talk of privateers. That's most of the world — people who buy their own stuff. And when counting pennies, doing spreadsheet calculations, and analyzing cost-per-gram, the less flashy parts — the Chorus', Force's, and Ultegra's of the world, often provide 99% of the performance at 50-75% of the price. The Look Cycle Keo 2 Max fits in the performance without the price slot. It does everything that the Keo 2 Max Carbon does, just without the carbon-fiber pedal body.

One noteworthy feature of the Keo 2 is the stainless steel wear plate atop the center of the pedal body. This adds tremendous durability to the system as a whole. But Look did more than add a cap to its pedals. It redesigned the shape so that it's wider, amongst the widest clipless pedals around. This 57mm platform width increases the surface area that contacts the cleat to 340mm², but that doesn't affect the cornering clearance as the pedal body is narrower on the bottom.

Look also went to town on the pedal's axle. The diameter was increased to 12mm on the crank side for increased stiffness. Additionally, Look kept the stack height to a minimum, 15.7mm, which necessitated two roller bearings on the crank side and a needle bearing on the outside of the spindle.

The Keo 2 Max pedal bodies are made from a polyamide composite. The wear plate and axle are both stainless steel. The Q-Factor is 53mm, and it's able to be increased to 55mm with the use of a 2mm spacer that goes between the spindle and the crank (sold separately). The release tension is also able to be adjusted from 9-15Nm. There are three float options for the cleats: fixed aka zero float (Black) cleats, 4.5-degrees float (Grey) cleats, and 9-degrees of float (White/red) cleats.

The Look Cycle Keo 2 Max Pedals are available in the color Black, Black/green, Black/grey, Grey, White/red, and White.

Have an answer for Martin?

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Popular for a reason.

Familiarity: I've put it through the wringer

I've been using Look pedals for over 15 years. I've never had an issue with them in terms of functional. The only issues I've had with them is the float I needed as I add on the miles. Currently have 2 pairs , Look Keo Max and Keo Max2. I swapped out the spindles on my Keo Max2 and dropped 20 grams each or 40 total.

The red cleats feel great for me now. After my marathon, I really notice I needed more float. Perhaps alignment changes from running.

Have an answer for Lucien?

That is a great question, and it happens more times then you would think. All of our pedals are sold as a pair. If you have any additional questions, please feel free to e-mail me. dmyers@backcountry.com